A Manchester man driver says he has been left stunned after being slapped with a hefty fine for parking on double yellow lines - and ANOTHER for driving in a bus lane - while he was 1,800 miles away. The 25-year-old, who asked not to be named, says he faces the losing his car if he fails to stump up more than £1,000.
He says he parked up outside his Manchester home before jetting off in June to spend three months in Greece - where his mum lives. When he returned in September, he discovered his car was missing. He reported it as stolen to police, who told him his car had been found and impounded by Manchester council.
After contacting the town hall, the driver discovered he had been issued penalty charge notices for parking on double yellow lines on Cambridge Street and Lower Chatham Street, as well as driving in a bus lane on Oxford Road. The driver says the incidents, which took place happened in late August - a month before he returned home.
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He told the Manchester Evening News he provided bank statements to the council, showing transactions taking place in Crete, and showed his passport stamps and flight tickets for the trip away. The council also asked to see a report from Greater Manchester Police on the car being reported stolen - but even with that, the driver says he was told the evidence was still insufficient.
The M.E.N. has seen all the documents shared with the council by the driver - but he says he is still facing the prospect of having to pay around £1,500 in order to get his car back from the impound, or face losing the car. "It's a complete nightmare," he said.
"I don't know what else they want from me. I don't really know what else I can do. They keep saying it's insufficient but I've given them everything."
The driver says the cost of recovering his car is increasing by £12 for each day it remains at the impound, and the battle to recover it has been going on for weeks. He added: "This was all of the evidence they had asked for.
"They have now refused to give my car back to me unless I pay the fine - which I appealed and provided evidence for - without giving me any reason. I now have no car and potentially in a considerable amount of debt and I risk my car being disposed of, after it was stolen when I was out of the country."
A spokesperson for Manchester council said: "As this case is still currently under council investigation it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."
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